New fast office work/entretainment box-Very long post- BEWARE

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

Hi guys!!!! new on this site and ready to ask away.. please bare with me.\
First at all, I've built computer for the last 16 years, but I've been out of this world for the last 6 or 7.
My first built out was a 386Dx with 4mb of ram and 80mb HD and SVGA card... Yes!!! I know that i'm getting old!!!!
6 or 7 years in computer years are like 600 or 700 in human years, so I'm pretty much out dated on the current technology. That being said I can catch up pretty fast.
I just started to read and I'm amazed to the stuff that gamers and pros are doing to their systems...

Lets cut the crap and move to the build out...

BUDGET RANGE: money wise: I'm much better financially now, and I have some money aside to pamper myself. I do not want to wast it, but I like to buy good quality stuff that will give me some room for escalation and upgrading on the future. I'm willing to spend some extra bucks if it means to get better quality or more features that I could use in the future

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I'm ready to buy NOW but I'm not in a rush. I'm looking for the rigth price on the rigth parts, but have none yet. Going to be out of town for the next 2 weeks so I was planing to buy the parst now so I will have them ready when I'm back

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Rest assured that I'm aware that I will be overkilling on the system that I'm building for the tasks that I'm going to be doing, but I really want a systems that does EVERYTHING FAST. Also I want room for expansion and be able to upgrade these system in the future. I would hate to realize 6 months from here, that I want to do OC but since I bought the cheapest mobo I have to buy another one. I prefer to do the investment upfront.
in order of importance
Surfing the internet,
downloading stuff
watching movies
Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Quickbooks.
FTP server to backup some remote stuff to this machine
and maybe gaming far away in my future due to free time constrains

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: keyboard, mouse, Video card.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: newegg.com, seems to be fairly good with pricing but I'm defenitly open to suggestions on good deals. I used to lurk on pricewatch.com back in my days but I do not know how good is it anymore.

PARTS PREFERENCES:
CPU: defenitly want Intel. After some lengthy reading, it seems that i7 920 is rigth now the best bang for the buck and defenitly more than enough for the stuff that i want to do.
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HEATSINKS:Not planing to go craaaaazy with OC just enough to go faster but keeping the system stable 24x7. I've read that the factory heatsing it's good enough on this CPU, but either way I would like to go the extra mile to ensure that wont have any thermal problem. I'm used to leave the PC on 24X7 so I do not want surprises.
MAybe going liquid in the future, if I find time to read and play wih it, just for gigles and to learn something new. But for now I have no need for water so I will stay with air.

This is what I've seen that I like.
This is the V8 but... is the V10 for double the price really worth it????If it is worth it I could probably go fo rthe open box choice at $76
COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler - Retail $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103055

COOLER MASTER V10 Hybrid TEC RR-B2P-UV10-GP 120mm CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103056R

Is ther any way to make sure that the V10 will fit inside my case???
Also I will need some recomendations on thermal compound/grease.

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GPU:
I have it alredy.. I bougth it for another box but it didn't fit... so I never used it
XFX PVT98GYDLH GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150323

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Mobo: I've been reading a lot of reviews and I'm in between EVGA and ASUS leaning a little bit toward EVGA for the apparent awesome customer service, amount of ports.
Things that I'd like... 6 memory banks,preferrably up to 24gb, plenty of satas, dual NIC on board, tons of USBs, and some nice RAID options.

this seems to have good reviews....
ASUS P6TD Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $289.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131403

Is it really worth it???
ASUS Rampage II Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $359.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131352

Maybe too much for my needs even under MY standards
EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED "Overclocker's Pick" 3-Way SLI + PhysX 1366 Intel X58 EATX Intel Motherboard $399
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188048

Seems like a god mobo at a good price that fits my requirements.
EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard $270.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

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RAM
I was thinking on starting with 6Gb, do not think i'll need more than that rigth now and prices for 2gb sticks are very nice.
These are DDR3 1600, and I've seen up to 2000 but I've read somewhere that anything higher than 1333 is virtualy useles now a days, but I have no clue so maybe somebody can tell me.

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365
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PSU
I think that I have it...I liked the modular desing of the kingwin, and I think that 1000W will be enough for now and for some future growing.
KINGWIN Mach 1 ABT-1000MA1S 1000W ATX / BTX SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817121037
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CASE
Big problem.... I want the bigest, most ventilated case out there, really do not like front doors, and I would prefer to mount the PSU at the TOP and not at the BOTTOm.
Do not want nothing too Gamie or flashing or in orange or blood red, just some sober black case.
Do not really know what to look for in a case but certainly want a lot of 3.5" internal bays to mount HD and SSD. I would also like some kind of front mount fan/temperature control panel. Transparent side panel would be a plus.

Good reviews but not totally sold in it...
Antec Twelve Hundred Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $159
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129043

This seems to fit my bill but I would like to hear opinions, since I'm not really fond of the two little front side doors, but I think I could remove them and forget about it..
Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+) VH6000BWS Black Aluminum / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133056

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119160

Thermaltake Spedo Advance Package VI90001W2Z Black 0.8 mm SECC Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail $199.98
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133072

On the fan/temperature controler, I know that there was some "FLIP" type that looked good and had good review but now I can't find it

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SSD
It seems that my bottleneck at this point will be the drive, so I was thingking to have a

Kingston SSDNow V-Series SNV125-S2BD/128GB 2.5" 128GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) Desktop bundled accessory kit - Retail $283.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139007

The only catch, seems to be that does not support Windows 7 TRIM(?) do not really know how bad that is...

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HDD
Need some direction on this too. I would like to have at least 1tb available, and if price is rigth maybe get 3 of those to get a RAID5.

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OVERCLOCKING: Yes, but i need to learn....SLI OR CROSSFIRE: very unlikely, but do not want to rule it out.

MONITOR RESOLUTION: the most I can get!!!! prices on LCDs are so good now that I'm aiming at getting two 32" side by side
But I really need a lot of help on this part because I know nothing about it...
LCD o Plasma??
I've heard that after certain amount of inches it is useless to go bigger??? is this true???
Is there any problem for my Video card to handle two big screens???

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I would like a quiet PC

Thanks everybody in advance and sorry for the long post.

overshocks · Sep 24, 2009

first of all fix your links.

"in order of importance
Surfing the internet,
downloading stuff
watching movies
Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Quickbooks.
FTP server to backup some remote stuff to this machine
and maybe gaming far away in my future due to free time constrains in order of importance
Surfing the internet,
downloading stuff
watching movies
Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Quickbooks.
FTP server to backup some remote stuff to this machine
and maybe gaming far away in my future due to free time constrains "

you dont need i7 build, thats an overkill.

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

Links fixed!!! thanks for the heads up on that one...

"you dont need i7 build, thats an overkill"

I know, but... anyway, can you help me out???

overshocks · Sep 24, 2009

yes ill help you out. but first one question

how much you plan on overclockin the i7 920?

also the i5 750 could be the cheaper solution (since i7 920 is overkill, but i5 750 is CHEAPER) they perform around the same.

edit: whats with all those expensive motherboards that more than half of the features you won't use

overshocks · Sep 24, 2009

"MONITOR RESOLUTION: the most I can get!!!! prices on LCDs are so good now that I'm aiming at getting two 32" side by side
But I really need a lot of help on this part because I know nothing about it... "

i think you meant 22" side by side..

and again, i suggest you go with the i5 750 route instead, lookin at your needs, you dont even GAME, so i5 750 is a big overkill already.

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

"i think you meant 22" side by side.."

Sorry for my ignorance, but...what if you want something bigger than 22" or 24"???
Is that somewhat technically imposible??? Or it is that after some particular size you do not get more resolution????

I really understand your concern and sincerely appreciate it, but I'm not building something just to use now. Thats not the way I think.
I can afford to put an i7 920, and apparently rigth now is the best bang for the buck, so that why I'm going for it. Do i need it?? no really. Any chance that I may use it in the future??? Maybe!!! so I preffer to get it now, and have a oversized system fror what i do now, but still have enough machine if I change my needs in the future without having to do a complete overhaul.
You would ask... so why don't you go with the I7 975 if you can afford it???
Because rigth now is not the best relation price/performance ratio compared with the 920.

On the same token... I'm looking for 6gb of memory... Do I need 6gb of memory, most likely not, but I'm good in that aspect for some time, and if needed, I would only have to add instead of replace.
Why not going with 12gb or 24gb??? Same as above, when comparing the cost/benefit of one against the other, does not make sense.

It's like those people that like to drive a pickup truck... are they hauling or towing stuff all day, every day???? No. could they be ok most of the time driving a honda civic??? yes... but when they need to go to home depot to get 2 sheets of plywood they are greatfull they have the pickup...

Thanks for your replys....

obsidian86 · Sep 24, 2009

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

THANKS!!!!

1-MOBO:Any particular reason why not going with EVGA??? price or something else???

2-RAM-Thanks for the tips, I assume that any of those would be fine so I'm plan on going with the OCZ Platinum 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3P1600LV6GK - Retail because of the ammount of good reviews.

3- Thermal compound- going with that thermal paste... thanks again.

4- If I do not OC rigth now, could I get away with the heatsink included on the i7 920 if I run the box 24x7??? I'm liking the idea of Water cooling but I do not want to get to it until I've done dome more reading???
Is it wiser to spend 40 bucks on the Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - Retail until I get more knowledge on OC, or it is just a waste of money??? Just want to protect the CPU as much as i can since i'm used to have the box runing all the time.

5- PSU, will follow your advice and go with the CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail. The Seasonic was a better deal but the lack of reviews concerned me.

SSD:will follow advice and go with the GSkill Falcon...Thanks again!!!

I will appreciate if you could shed some ligth on what you think about
A- XFX PVT98GYDLH GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150323

B- Case

C- HDD

D- Monitor

mavanhel · Sep 24, 2009

For the HDD, I would suggest not going with an SSD yet. They're still very expensive and are still quite new. As for your monitor, I would suggest a 24". Starting with one would be perfectly fine and if you want bigger you could get another one. There is a very good 24" ASUS here

obsidian86 · Sep 24, 2009

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

Mavanhel: Ok!! great I got it...I'll go with dual 24", but now I need to know... THANKS A LOT FOR THE REPLY!!!

Obsidian86: Thanks for those tips . I was just comparing the EVGA against the ASUS, and you are rigth pretty much the same. I'm just leaning for the EVGA now because of the 9 sata ports against the 6 on the Asus, even tough the ASUS is 10 bucks more expensive... I know... I'm splitting hairs...

Do you know the difference between the
EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail and the
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188039

EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188046

If you want to go bigger than 24"??? can you??? you can but is not worth it??? whats the deal???

Can you use a regular LCD TV as your monitor??? what are you loosing by doing that????

mavanhel · Sep 24, 2009

I picked 24" because if you're sitting infront of it, anything bigger could start to hurt your eyes. I recently got one and it's huge, I use it from across my bedroom (about 6-10 feet).

As for the LCD TV thing, yes it is possible, but the problem is that TVs do not have as high a resolution as monitors, and they can get a lot more expensive a lot faster.

obsidian86 · Sep 24, 2009

if you want the best monitor http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&sku=223-4890

http://accessories.dell.com/sna/products/Monitors/productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&sku=222-7175

Transmaniacon · Sep 24, 2009

COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution RC-830-KKN3-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119122 ($179.99) [Top mounted PSU, Can accomodate 9 fans]

CORSAIR CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139010 ($149.99 w/ $20 MIR + Free Shipping)

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202&cm_re=i7_920-_-19-115-202-_-Product ($279.99 + Free Shipping)

ASRock X58 Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157163 ($169.99)

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365 ($109.99 w/ $20 MIR + Free Shipping)

Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G1 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167005 ($299.99 + Free Shipping) [OS/Application Drive]

(2) SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185&cm_re=f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product ($159.98 + Free Shipping) [RAID 1 - Data Redundancy]

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188 ($31.99)

XIGMATEK Intel Core i7 compatible Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029&cm_re=1366_heatsink-_-35-233-029-_-Product ($44.98 + Free Shipping)

Total: $1,426.89

LCD Computer Monitors are available up to 30". The price for these is at minimum $1000 each, I would recommend going with a solid 22"-24" monitor, unless you really want the maximum resolution of 25x16.

overshocks · Sep 24, 2009

"Sorry for my ignorance, but...what if you want something bigger than 22" or 24"???
Is that somewhat technically imposible??? Or it is that after some particular size you do not get more resolution???? "

you said you are getting two monitors right? get two 24" for best performance. 1920x1080

"MONITOR RESOLUTION: the most I can get!!!! prices on LCDs are so good now that I'm aiming at getting two 32" side by side
But I really need a lot of help on this part because I know nothing about it... "

they dont tell 32 inch monitors. lol..
edit: they dont "sell" 32 inch monitors lol..

"I can afford to put an i7 920, and apparently rigth now is the best bang for the buck"

you are wrong here. the i5 750 is best BANG for the buck 198 dollars close performance to i7 920.

Transmaniacon · Sep 24, 2009

Yea the i5 is best deal right now, but if you want more future proofing, stick with the 1366 socket because they are going to release the six-core i9 CPUs for that socket down the road.

mavanhel · Sep 24, 2009

Transmaniacon :

By the time you want a 6-core processor won't everything else in this system be outdated?

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

obsidian86 :

Niiiiiceeeeee...
But I just saw, what you guys are saying... when you pass the border of the 24" the prices skyrocket...THANKS!!!!

Transmaniacon · Sep 24, 2009

Not really, it will be the same socket, so RAM will not be changed, there will likely be faster HDD and GPU, but thats the same for any system.

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

mavanhel :

AWESOME!!! I will follow your advise and get the 24 and see how that works...

I wanted dual because I got to work for a very short term at a plce where they had dual screens on every machine, and it was absolutly perfect to be able to do 2 things at a time, I found it very productive....

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

Transmaniacon :

Thats was exacltly my train of thougt for going with i7......

emudryj · Sep 24, 2009

since I have you attention... does enybody knows the difference between the
EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail and the
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188039

EVGA E758-TR 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813188046

mavanhel · Sep 24, 2009

About 30 bucks :lol:

Other than that, it looks like the A1 has a few more features than the TR. The A1 looks like it might be better for testing overclocking and such things, probably not too important in your case.

New fast office work/entretainment box-Very long post- BEWARE

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